| 09:51:10
| Welcome to F1-Live.com and live coverage of the Chinese Grand Prix race weekend. The first practice session gets underway shortly. |
| 09:52:31
| It is only a few days since the chequered flag fell at Fuji Speedway and most of the talk ahead of the Shanghai event centres around Fernando Alonso’s future and where he will drive next year as well as Lewis Hamilton’s driving behind the safety car in Japan. |
| 09:54:52
| As it stands, Hamilton has a 12 point advantage over Alonso heading into the penultimate race of the season, but he is under investigation for some alleged erratic driving behind the safety car that may, or may not, have resulted in the collision between Vettel and Webber in Japan. |
| 09:56:23
| In other news; Ralf Schumacher announced that he is to leave Toyota at the end of the season. The reality is however that his contract was up and he was unlikely to be re-hired by the struggling German-based team. Jarno Trulli meanwhile has been saying it would be good if Alonso would sign up as his team-mate. We shall see. |
| 09:58:26
| It is not 2008 yet, so the drivers have to prepare for the penultimate race of the season his morning. Most will run the harder tyre for much of the session and then perhaps try a run on the softer option at the end of the session. Kazuke Nakajima is in action for the Williams Toyota team this morning in place of Alex Wurz. |
| 10:00:09
| It is dry and sunny and the first practice session is now underway. |
| 10:00:34
| The Spyker duo of Yamamoto and Sutil are the first on track. |
| 10:00:45
| The start of the session will see most complete an installation lap and pit for checks. This is a free session, so engine changes are permitted. |
| 10:01:03
| Many others are now heading out for their installation lap. |
| 10:03:02
| They are all returning to the pits after that one lap on track. |
| 10:03:53
| David Coulthard remains on track for a second lap in his Red Bull Renault. |
| 10:04:25
| Raikkonen, Massa, Nakajima and Rosberg yet to head out. |
| 10:05:49
| Coulthard now pits his RB3. |
| 10:06:18
| Alex Wurz, sitting out this session this morning, set the pace in P1 last year with a best lap of 1:35.574s. |
| 10:06:41
| Nakajima is now on track in his Williams Toyota FW29. |
| 10:08:07
| There is no news from Shanghai yet about any penalty for Lewis Hamilton. That is expected later today. |
| 10:09:23
| Nakajima, free from his GP2 season, is the first driver to set a timed lap on a 1:43. |
| 10:09:53
| Adrian Sutil is back out in his Spyker as is team-mate Sakon Yamamoto. |
| 10:11:04
| Nakajima remains on track and is improving with each lap at the moment. He was named rookie of the year in GP2. |
| 10:11:24
| Sutil runs wide and continues. |
| 10:12:57
| Yamamoto has an off track moment in his Spyker as Sutil records his first timed lap. |
| 10:13:46
| Yamamoto is now second fastest ahead of Sutil. |
| 10:15:08
| Sutil and Yamamoto are improving by the lap and they trade lap times behind Nakajima. |
| 10:15:23
| Robert Kubica is on track in his BMW Sauber. |
| 10:16:50
| Kubica returns straight back to the pits after a second installation lap. |
| 10:17:47
| Nakajima dips below the 100 second mark for the first time by just over a tenth. |
| 10:18:09
| Nico Rosberg is now on his installation lap in the second Williams. |
| 10:19:38
| Nakajima pits the Williams, leaving the Spyker duo and Rosberg on track. |
| 10:20:28
| Ralf Schumacher heads out in his Toyota. |
| 10:21:04
| Rosberg moves second fastest behind Nakajima. |
| 10:22:42
| Trulli and Vettel on track now for Toyota and Toro Rosso. |
| 10:23:12
| Now Webber and Davidson join the action as Sutil and Yamamoto pit. |
| 10:24:04
| Ralf Schumacher's first timed lap moves him fastest. |
| 10:25:10
| Trulli moves second fastest, just a fraction slower than Schumacher. Toyota need a good race weekend after another poor showing in Japan. |
| 10:26:06
| Rosberg improves and is now fastest in his Williams. |
| 10:26:45
| Trulli now takes over at the top. Four Toyota powered cars at the top of the timesheets at the moment. |
| 10:28:28
| The fastest four are trading best lap times at the moment. No sign yet of Raikkonen or Massa, but that is normal for the opening practice session of the race weekend. |
| 10:28:52
| Now Raikkonen does head out with nearly a third of the session complete. |
| 10:29:43
| Rosberg (3rd) pits his Williams. |
| 10:30:33
| Hamilton heading out in his McLaren. |
| 10:32:05
| Davidson improves and is fourth as Raikkonen runs wide and continues. |
| 10:32:29
| Raikkonen's first timed lap puts him P7. |
| 10:32:52
| Button and Coulthard on their first timed laps. |
| 10:33:48
| Another slow lap from Raikkonen. |
| 10:34:01
| Hamilton vaults to the top of the timesheets. |
| 10:35:32
| Raikkonen puts a lap together and moves ahead of Hamilton |
| 10:35:45
| Hamilton improves again and is now two-tenths up on Raikkonen. |
| 10:36:06
| Fernando Alonso is on track now. Massa too heads out. |
| 10:36:30
| Nick Heidfeld moves fifth fastest in his BMW. |
| 10:38:33
| Fisichella and Kovalainen on track for Renault. |
| 10:39:27
| Alonso runs off track at the final turn. His first lap puts him eighth. |
| 10:39:42
| Massa moves fourth fastest in his Ferrari. |
| 10:40:30
| Kubica is moving up the order in the second BMW Sauber. |
| 10:41:10
| Raikkonen finds time and closes down the gap to Hamilton who has pitted. |
| 10:41:34
| Massa is now third fastest ahead of Trulli and Alonso. |
| 10:42:11
| Raikkonen now pits having completed his first stint. |
| 10:42:46
| Alonso gains a position so the normal order is resumed. |
| 10:45:01
| Massa is now fastest in his F2007 from Hamilton, Raikkonen and Alonso. |
| 10:49:20
| No big changes as Kubica moves ahead of Fisichella. Massa remains on track while most have pitted. |
| 10:50:46
| Massa has now pitted. David Coulthard is now moving up the order in his Red Bull. |
| 10:52:12
| Coulthard picks up another position and is now ahead of Sato. |
| 10:53:06
| All of the front-runners are currently in the pits. Most have completed one stint on the hard tyre. |
| 10:54:27
| Heidfeld, Hamilton and Trulli head back out for a second run. |
| 10:55:25
| Heidfeld's BMW Sauber is smoking. He seems to have a problem. |
| 10:56:04
| Heidfeld has stopped on track and seems to have a gearbox issue. |
| 10:56:35
| That's the end of the session for Heidfeld who is P8 at the moment. |
| 10:57:31
| Hamilton was on a fast lap. He had to back off due to the yellow flags. Raikkonen is also on track. |
| 10:58:15
| Trulli and Alonso are also on track. |
| 10:59:33
| Hamilton starts another hot lap. |
| 11:00:07
| 30 minutes remain and Massa is still fastest at the moment. |
| 11:00:29
| Alonso is also on a fast lap in the second McLaren. |
| 11:00:46
| Massa is now back out. |
| 11:01:26
| The track is now busy with most of the front-runners on track. |
| 11:02:04
| Alonso moves third fastest and it is close at the top of the timesheets with less than a tenth covering the top four. |
| 11:02:31
| Hamilton now improves and moves three-tenths clear at the head of the timesheets. |
| 11:03:07
| Trulli is putting in a lot of laps in his Toyota. He remains fifth fastest. |
| 11:04:00
| Massa improves and closes the gap but remains second to Hamilton who has just pitted. |
| 11:04:23
| Now Raikkonen moves fastest from Hamilton, Massa and Alonso. |
| 11:04:57
| Alonso improves and is now second with just over a tenth covering the top four. |
| 11:06:09
| Fisichella is another to run off track. He is able to continue. |
| 11:06:29
| Alonso joins Hamilton in the pits. |
| 11:07:44
| Kubica moves fifth fastest in his BMW Sauber ahead of Trulli. There is then an eight-tenths gap to the fastest four. |
| 11:09:14
| A gain for Massa who moves third fastest. The harder tyres are taking some time to come in, but they are able to improve lap by lap. |
| 11:10:00
| Raikkonen pits his Ferrari. |
| 11:13:08
| Trulli is back out and aiming to retake P5 in the Toyota. The TF107 has shown good pace in practice, but they seem to drop away as the weekend progresses. |
| 11:14:39
| The fastest four are all in the pits with 15 minutes remaining. |
| 11:17:16
| Mark Webber is currently 17th and looking to move up the order. |
| 11:18:46
| Webber does not improve and remains 17th. Little track activity at the moment with just Kubica, Webber and Schumacher on track. |
| 11:20:19
| Kimi Raikkonen heads back out with ten minutes remaining. |
| 11:20:45
| Nico Rosberg is back out in his Williams. |
| 11:21:04
| Now Hamilton heads back out. |
| 11:21:55
| The circuit is getting busy again as they prepare for their final stint of the session. Alonso joins the action. |
| 11:23:36
| Rosberg moves fifth fastest. |
| 11:24:16
| Some will be trying the softer tyre for this final stint. |
| 11:24:48
| The fastest four will be sticking with the hard tyre. |
| 11:25:54
| A gain for Coulthard. Nick Heidfeld is back out. The team have done well to fix the gearbox issue. |
| 11:26:19
| Most on track now for the final minutes. |
| 11:27:12
| Massa spins his Ferrari at turn one. |
| 11:27:34
| All but Kubica (6th) on track. |
| 11:28:07
| Nakajima moves ninth fastest in his Williams. |
| 11:28:21
| Kubica heads out with two minutes remaining. |
| 11:29:39
| No gains at the front runners at the moment. |
| 11:30:04
| The chequered flag is out. |
| 11:30:57
| Kimi Raikkonen sets the pace in the opening practice session of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend. |
| 11:31:30
| Alonso is second fastest from Massa, Hamilton, Rosberg and Kubica. |
